ARCHERS OF LOAF Vee Vee

Alias A-064 (1995)

Archers of Loaf were a four-piece group from Chapel Hill, North Carolina that started gaining attention in the early 1990's but never achieved the level of fame that some other "alternative" bands of that era garnered. That's a shame, because the band was easily one of the most original and creative groups around at the time, and Vee Vee is among the best rock records of the decade (in fact, it's my personal favourite).

The Archers' sound was defiantly unique, even for its genre; Eric Bachmann's hoarse, strangulated vocals fought to be heard above the group's skronking guitars and pounding percussion. Their lyrics, when decipherable, alternated between obtusely abstract poetry and hilariously direct putdowns (such as the classic refrain "It's too bad that your music doesn't matter" from "Let the Loser Melt"). Their squalling, guitar-driven sound owed a debt to such indie contemporaries as Superchunk and Sonic Youth, yet retained a unique, angular identity all its own. So unique, in fact, that listening to it today makes it pretty easy to understand why the group never found its place among the Nirvanas and Pearl Jams and their imitators. Vee Vee feels like a note-perfect distillation of the post-grunge hangover of the late 1990's.